Borrowed into English from Sanskrit around 1780–90
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In Egypt, which increased the cost of fuels by up to 30 percent, mother-of-six Om Mohamed fretted about the future.
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
Om is said to be the mantra describing the sound of the universe.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2024
Freelance journalist Om Routray reports on this rather unusual trend.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2023
"I'm facing breathing trouble. It feels like something is stuck in my throat," said resident Om Prakash Singh.
From Reuters ● Oct. 30, 2023
That was just the magic that had happened to him during his sleep and the Om in him —he loved everything, he was full of joyous love towards everything that he saw.
From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse
The places reached by steamers are marked St.; while Om. signifies Omnibus, in cases where there is no very available railway route.
From Collins' Illustrated Guide to London and Neighbourhood by Anonymous
My father, Tom, was Scottish and worked as a vice president at O.M.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2025
We at O.M. reached agreement with Newcastle, but we also talked with other English clubs.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 15, 2013
They include Eason Oil, the Bobbs-Merrill publishing house and O.M.
From Time Magazine Archive
Lately, the O.M. has served a new purpose: to reward outgoing Prime Ministers who don't want a peerage which would raise them to the lofty but ineffectual House of Lords.
From Time Magazine Archive
Well, never mind Adam: but certainly Shakespeare's creations— O.M.
From What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain
Marseille followed their exit from the Champions League during the week by squandering a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Paris FC on Saturday -- OM and OL are nine points worse off than PSG.
From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026
In County Tyrone, the OM Dark Sky Park and Observatory in Omagh has been closed, with a spokesperson saying that access to the site is expected to become increasingly difficult as the day progresses.
From BBC ● Jan. 3, 2026
“On the other hand, the OM directorate cannot accept personal threats. Its members cannot tolerate individual attacks and any form of unfounded public defamation.”
From Washington Times ● Sep. 20, 2023
You’d usually need an actual gimbal mount, like the DJI OM 5, to get footage this steady, and the Zenfone 9 just does it all in-camera.
From The Verge ● Aug. 27, 2022
These three gods are the first and the highest manifestations of the Eternal Essence, and are typified by the three letters composing the mystic syllable OM or AUM.
Jerich joined a convoy of about 30 vehicles last June om Delray Beach to celebrate Trump’s birthday, officials said.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2022
The Hoyas finish the regular season against Seton Hall Wednesday night in Newark, and against Xavier om Saturday night in Cincinnati.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2022
The use of the sound "om," and the Sanskrit-based word "namaste" are also still banned.
From BBC ● May 21, 2021
Fighting persists in the region’s rural areas even as Ethiopian authorities insist the situation om Tigray is returning to normal.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 22, 2021
Why does a memory like that ff om childhood remain with me so strongly, and why does it frighten me now?
From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
The 39-foot-tall pastel Draags keep leashes on the Oms, their tiny pets descended from humans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2021
Co-founder Carolina Oms has started to plan for the year ahead.
From Slate ● Dec. 28, 2018
“The good thing about this model is that it doesn’t demand anything in return except for good journalism,” Oms said.
From Slate ● Dec. 28, 2018
By Oms, the dog of the lower regions, I shall find her," said old Souhem, "even if I have to walk living to the very confines of the Western Region to which travel the dead.
From The Works of Theophile Gautier, Volume 5 The Romance of a Mummy and Egypt by Frederick C. de (Frederick Caesar de) Sumichrast
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
